Regime Forces Attack Bahrainis Protesting Against Ties Normalization with “Israel”

By Staff, Agencies

Bahraini regime forces have attacked demonstrators in the northeastern island of Sitra, who gathered to voice their opposition to Manama’s normalization of relations with the "Israeli" entity.

Regime forces violently suppressed the protests in the city on Friday evening, which were held following nationwide rallies against the “Israeli” foreign minister’s visit to the country and the official establishment of relations between Tel Aviv and Manama a day earlier, Lebanon-based al-Nour radio station reported.

Bahraini people have been protesting against the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Al Khalifa regime and Tel Aviv since the signing of the so-called Abraham Accords.

However, Yair Lapid’s trip to Manama to inaugurate the “Israeli” embassy in Bahrain on Thursday sparked a new wave of protests across the tiny Gulf kingdom.

Demonstrators poured into the streets of the capital Manama as they carried banners in condemnation of normalization with Tel Aviv, and set ablaze “Israeli” flags.

They also waved national Palestinian flags, and voiced solidarity with the Palestinian nation and their legitimate cause.

Similar rallies were held in the villages of Sadad and Sanabis, where protestors chanted slogans against Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifa regime, raised placards in denunciation of normalization with the “Israeli” entity, and burnt “Israeli” flags.

The protesters shouted “Down with ‘Israel’” and “Get out of Bahrain” to protest the normalization of ties with the entity, local media reported.

Lapid arrived in Bahrain on Thursday to open the “Israeli” embassy in Manama and sign cooperation deals with the Arab country in defiance of Bahraini people’s vehement opposition.

He met Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

He met later with his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and the two sides signed deals on cooperation in medicine, healthcare, sports, and on water and environmental conservation.

His visit to Bahrain is aimed at advancing the US-pushed normalization deals between the “Israeli” entity and a number of Arab countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco

Lapid has already opened the “Israeli” embassy in Abu Dhabi.

The opening of the “Israeli” embassy in Manama has been met with strong opposition by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior leader of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said Lapid’s visit can be “summed up in one word, which is treason.”

A number of other resistance groups have also lambasted Lapid’s visit to Bahrain.

Former “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed agreements with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain’s foreign minister during an official ceremony hosted by former US president Donald Trump at the White House on September 15 last year.

The normalization accords have been denounced by the people of the region as “treacherous” and sparked protests in the countries that signed them.